Services · Licensed CHB practice

Classification through drawback. One licensed file.

Perrotta Customs Group is a customs brokerage, not a status call. We assign the HTS, file the entry, stand the bond, answer CBP, and can move the crate. A licensed broker still signs every transmission.

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Form numbers below are the product. Estimates on this site are not rulings.

01 · Classify & file

The 7501 is the last step, not the first.

Tariff classification

A 10-digit HTS is a legal claim.

We assign Harmonized Tariff Schedule codes to every imported line under the General Rules of Interpretation. GRI 1 first: heading, notes, then the 10-digit statistical suffix. A gold watch is four classifications, not one. Vague jewelry, missing fiber %, or an unnamed species is a pause — we will not invent a suffix to look fast.

Entry preparation & filing

3461 to release the cargo. 7501 to liquidate the file.

We prepare and transmit CBP Form 3461 (Entry / Immediate Delivery) for cargo release and CBP Form 7501 (Entry Summary) for duty, tax, and Census. Lines roll up by HTS and country of origin. The customer dashboard is the 7501 as it is built. Nothing files until a licensed broker reviews it.

Partner Government Agency clearance

The hold is usually a missing PGA packet, not a mystery.

Partner-agency declarations ride with the entry: FDA Prior Notice, EPA/TSCA, Fish & Wildlife eDec and CITES, CPSC, Kimberley on rough diamonds. We flag FDA, EPA, FWS, and CPSC from the invoice description and block ACE transmission until the vault is complete — not after LAX pulls the belt.

02 · Admit & move

The crate still has to leave the terminal.

Importer Security Filing (ISF 10+2)

Ocean freight files before the vessel sails.

For ocean shipments, Importer Security Filing 10+2 is due prior to departure (19 CFR 149). Late ISF is a liquidated-damages exposure, not a paperwork delay. We treat the ISF as a gate on the same file as the 7501 — bill of lading, IOR, manufacturer, and HTS aligned before the boat moves.

Customs bond procurement

No 7501 against a silent importer of record.

We secure continuous bonds for houses that file as a practice and single-entry bonds when the facts are a one-off. The 5106, the invoice, and the bond have to name the same IOR. Bond amount is sized to expected duty, taxes, and fees — not a number copied from last year’s file.

Freight forwarding & drayage

Clearance without a truck is a crate sitting in the CES.

We coordinate the physical move from the port to the warehouse so delivery and the entry are one conversation. Drayage, airport recovery, and the last mile sit on the same operating picture as the 7501. This is a lean desk arranging the move — not a forty-person forwarder you never hired.

03 · Correct, defend, recover

Liquidation is not the end of the file.

Post-summary corrections & protests

Clerical error on one clock. A legal dispute on another.

Post-summary corrections fix non-legal errors after the 7501 is accepted. A protest under 19 U.S.C. § 1514 is how you dispute CBP’s decision, generally within 180 days of liquidation. We keep the GRI rationale and CROSS citations on the entry so a protest package is not reconstructed from memory.

Audit defense & binding rulings

A CF-28 is not a status email. A CF-29 is not optional.

CBP Form 28 is a Request for Information. CBP Form 29 is a Notice of Action. We isolate that work from live clearance, answer on the facts, and apply for a binding CROSS ruling when the merchandise warrants one. Classification advice is broker-signed. It is not a chatbot’s memory.

Duty drawback

If the goods go back out, the duty should come back in.

Drawback recovers duties, taxes, and fees on imported merchandise that is subsequently exported or destroyed under CBP’s drawback regime. Trunk-show returns, unsold stock, and components that leave again are the usual luxury facts. We manage the claim against the original entry — not a spreadsheet built after the season ends.

The desk

Bring one messy invoice.

A free entry audit returns classification notes, PGA flags, and a flat fee. If the file needs a bond, an ISF, or a protest clock, we will say so in the memo — not in a retainer deck.

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